


Into the Infinite Blue

by Blazenaught



Category: Original Work
Genre: Bird/Human Hybrids, F/F, Modern Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:27:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24638332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blazenaught/pseuds/Blazenaught
Summary: Before we can fly into the infinite blue, we must tread upon the sullen ground
Kudos: 5





	Into the Infinite Blue

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I originally wrote a few years ago for a college class. I want to get into professional writing and am currently working on adapting this to a full novel, but I thought I'd publish this original version to maybe inspire confidence in myself.

When Linda was born, her parents were shocked to find that she had a small pair of wings on her back. At first they were a bit perplexed, but the doctor explained that in the past decade there have been a few reports of babies being born with wings, and that they had no other health problems. It just meant that Linda had to stay a few extra nights so that the doctors could try to figure out what caused this phenomenon. After about a week, Linda was sent home to her parents with a pamphlet on how to take care of baby “wingmans” up through eight years. 

The first problem with Linda was buying clothes. She needed shirts that had no back so her wings could have room to grow and develop properly. While this would be easy enough when she was a baby—she could be fine wrapped in a blanket around the house—her parents were worried about the clothes she’d need when she finally started school and was allowed to be around other children. The pamphlet said that at age five, a wingman’s wings would be developed enough to start binding them so that they could fit more easily into normal clothes, although the recommended limit to this was only three hours at a time with at least half an hour free to stretch them. This wouldn’t be sufficient for a full school day. The pamphlet recommended shirts that had a lower back that wouldn’t restrict the wings or just cutting holes for the wings in the back of her shirts. 

When Linda was four, her mother looked out back where she was playing to find she was gone. She frantically rushed outside to find her daughter, seeing that she was on the roof. Linda had finally learned to fly. The pamphlet had warned of this: since the parents had no way of teaching their child wingmans to fly, they would look and try to emulate birds and other flying animals. When this happened, it was recommended that Linda be monitored at all times so she didn’t fly off. Fences would no longer restrict her, so leashes tied around the ankle were recommended. The pamphlet also said that wingmans with feathered wings, like Linda, could have their feathers plucked to keep them from flying. The pamphlet advised against this, however, as it would be a long and painful process for the child and psychological repercussions of not being able to fly were still being researched.

When Linda was six, she was finally able to start kindergarten. Her parents sent her to school with her wings unbound on her first day, since they wanted her to be able to feel comfortable in her own body. Things were alright for the first week. She wouldn’t be allowed to fly at school, but she could stretch her wings out fully. The other kids were even fascinated by Linda’s wings, often asking what it was like to fly and if she could also talk to birds. Unfortunately, adults can be cruel. The parents of the other kids and even some of the faculty members would give her disgusted looks, and when Linda’s classmates told their parents about her, they would call her a freak or even a devil. And children copy what their authority figures do. After a while, awe turned into teasing and teasing into bullying. Kids would tell her to go back to her bird cage and would sometimes even just rip out her feathers. Halfway through the school year, Linda had to change schools. She insisted on binding her wings every day after that. 

In middle school, life had gotten even more confusing for Linda. The doctors were still trying to compile information on wingman adolescence, so there was no pamphlet with all the answers. As if regular human puberty wasn’t bad enough. Linda was still binding her wings, only she would often skip unbinding them over the lunch period. She didn’t want any of her friends to find out what she was. She was often teased for changing alone for gym class, but this was nothing she couldn’t handle. That is, until one particular mean girl spied on her when she was changing back into street clothes. The girl and her posse pinned her against the locker and stole her binder. Laughing, they told her to fly away like the little birdie she was after they threw her binder on the roof. She tried to fly up to retrieve it, but she found that after binding so much, she couldn’t. Crying, she ran straight home in the middle of the day. Her parents tried to comfort Linda and tell her it was alright. But come the next day, she found herself with no friends and even more bullies. 

Finally, Linda was in high school. She was ecstatic for the day when she could finally leave behind all the bullies. She was still binding, though she was stretching her wings more regularly. She had given up on keeping them secret. However, she still couldn’t fly. Her parents had taken her into the doctor to see if there was something wrong with her wings. The doctor told them that everything was fine and that Linda should be able to fly anytime she wanted. Her parents later tried to get her to go to counseling, but Linda refused, saying that there was no one else she could talk to about her problems, not when her problems were two feathered appendages growing out of her back. 

During Linda’s senior year, a new student transferred into her class. Her name was Natsuko. Her family had recently moved from Japan, and wanted her to get a taste of the American school system before starting college in the country. Natsuko had trouble making friends too, it seemed. One day, Natsuko sat down with Linda at lunch, who normally ate alone. At first, Linda remained indifferent, hoping Natsuko would go away on her own. But even after a few days of this, Natsuko continued to sit with Linda. Finally Linda started to respond to Natsuko. After talking for a bit, the two became fast friends. Linda was happy to finally have someone who saw passed her wings. Natsuko was similarly happy to have someone who saw her as more than just Japanese. 

December had finally come. Natsuko had explained that in Japan, Christmas no longer had much religious connotation—rather it was seen as a lover’s or family’s holiday as opposed to the birth of Christ. Linda blushed slightly at this explanation—over the past few months, her feelings for Natsuko only grew. Linda explained that her parents didn’t really celebrate Christmas aside from a morning gift exchange. Natsuko was shocked to hear such a thing, and so took Linda out on Christmas day, after presents had been opened. They mostly walked around the local park, since most places were closed for the holiday. They got some hot cocoa from a stand in the park and sat at one of the benches. After talking and laughing, Natsuko slowly moved in and kissed Linda. Linda was surprised at first, but later put her arms around Natsuko and closed her eyes. When she finally opened them, she found that they were no longer sitting on the bench. Instead, they were surrounded by an infinite blue.


End file.
